These steep vertical spires of Smith Rocks separated the view between the images on my previous two posts. Looking at these massive rocks jutting out of the landscape makes me realize just how amazing Nature is. I attempted to use black and white to emphasize the drama of these spires. An early morning sunrise will make this image spectacular. I can’t wait to go back!
This is another image that I will use as a reference for coming back to Smith Rocks for a Sunset photo shoot. A sunset over Mt. Bachelor and the Crooked River should be interesting. In this image I tried to line up the Crooked River so it would lead to Mt. Bachelor in the distance.
We visited Smith Rocks (near Bend, OR) with a couple of great friends in early July at mid-day. Not the best time for great breath-taking images. So I focused on finding good compositions that I can come back to during another trip, at sunrise. This image frames Broken Top between two spires of Smith Rocks. The round boulder in the middle provides a little interest. I removed houses that were located along the tree-lined ridge in Photoshop. If you look close you can still see a few remnants.
During a recent trip to Bend, my wife and I did a little exploring around the area. We took a drive to Tumalo Falls during the middle of the day. The mid-day sun did not do this beautiful waterfall justice. To capture the bright greens without washing the bright water out, I blended two exposures together; one taken for the water and the other for the green trees.
While walking back to the car after a long and productive day, I glanced up and saw the silhouette of multiple mountain ridges. A great way to end a great day.
As March is ending, this will be my last post on Death Valley … at least for a little while. The workshop gave me a much better understanding on what it takes to “see in Black and White”. John Barclay and Dan Sniffen put together a great workshop. Chuck Kimmerle provided a view into B&W photography that can’t be duplicated. The workshop participants included many great photographers on their own merits. My car pool mates, Arthur Ransome and Chuck Robinson are especially talented. I learned much from them as well. Thanks to all, leaders and participants, for making this a great workshop and experience!
This was my original vision of Death Valley, pretty desolate. Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below Sea Level, it is pretty bleak. This image was taken about a mile in from the road. The salt/sand crust was pretty well broken up. The miles of salt flats gave me a very chilling feeling (even though it was over 80 degrees). Can you imagine what the first explorers thought when they came across this bleak landscape.
I saw this image of Titus Canyon in two different ways. Our workshop group was photographing details on the canyon granite walls. I turned back around and saw the sun highlighting the colors on the mountain face above. Cool shadows in the canyon provided a sharp contrast. The color highlights are what caught my eye. But this was a black and white photography workshop. Throughout the workshop, Chuck Kimmerle had been emphasizing seeing and thinking in black and white as we take our shots. I tried to put on a “B&W filter” over my eyes. I started to see greater contrast between the sky, the highlighted mountain face, and two levels of shadow contrast along the canyon walls. Exploring further, I began to see the subtle (and not so subtle) tonal contrasts in the canyon walls as well as the mountain face. I locked the scene in my mind.
Reviewing my images back at home, I picked this image as one of my favorites. I processed it in B&W and was able to capture the B&W image that I had previously set in my mind. The following is the B&W version.
These images are not creative. However, for me they represent a step in the learning process of seeing and thinking in B&W.
The color in this section of mountains truly looks like an “artist’s pallet”. The different mineral colors exposed by geological upheavals and erosion made this scene look so out of place against the soft browns of the surrounding hills. Patches of color were everywhere. Some images are just not to be made into black and white.
I liked the “S-curve” and thought I would climb up to the top of the hill and get an overall view with the color/tones of the mountains in the background. I converted to B&W and tried to maintain the separation of the color tonalities. What is your preference?
Zabriskie Point radiated brilliantly as the sun hit the point. It lasted for just seconds before the rock features became washed out and the point became flat against the background. The basin below in shadows is Death Valley.
In the B&W conversion, I focused on separating the different tonalities in the face of Zabriskie while keeping it’s brightness separated from the valley and mountains in the background.